Boris Johnson: The man who would be king 10 October 2012 Boris Johnson: The man who would be king David Cameron’s rivalry with Boris Johnson is perhaps the most fascinating relationship in British politics. How has it evolved over the decades since the pair were at Eton? And which of them will triumph in the end? Sign up for our weekly email * Boris Johnson is trying to kill David Cameron. That may sound like an exaggeration, but the word “kill” was used by Johnson himself, in a column about “the basic drama of politics” written soon after the Labour landslide of 1997: “Politics is a constant repetition, in cycles of varying length, of one of the oldest myths in human culture, of how we make kings for our societies, and how after a while we kill them to achieve a kind of rebirth – as Tony Blair would put it, new life for Britain.” Beneath the banalities of democratic politics, darker passions decide the result. For many in the Tory tribe, the assassination of Margaret Thatcher cried out for vengeance.

As a Tory backbencher, the late Nicholas Budgen, told me in November 1990, Tories in the constituencies were determined that the assassin, Michael Heseltine, would not succeed in replacing her as leader: “Their main feeling is stop that longhaired bastard. They don’t much care what animal they use to stop him.” Are the Tories getting ready to indulge in another bout of chief-killing? The answer of all sober and responsible observers is “no”. For the party to behave like that would be too obviously self-destructive. Cameron will only be in mortal danger if he fails to win the next general election. Yet that is not quite the end of the matter. For in the theatre of politics, not all the observers are sober and responsible. Many of us crave drama – or, failing that, melodrama. We do not wish our politics to be calm, predictable and controlled to the point of tameness. Walter Bagehot suggested in the 1860s that we had good newspapers because the government could fall at any moment, and therefore “effective articles in great journals become of essential moment”. Our tradition favours uncertainty. Cameron has violated that tradition.

In May 2010 he and Nick Clegg decided there would not be another general election until May 2015. They induced the Commons to pass the Fixedterm Parliaments Act, which makes it virtually impossible for the prime minister of the day to call an election at a time of his or her choosing. The establishment considered this a prudent measure. It meant the deficit could be brought under control without the danger of everything being thrown into uncertainty by the sudden calling of another election. Cameron was happy to forgo the power to call an election because he is not by nature a gambler. He valued the prospect of five years in No 10 above the chance to go to the country again in a few months’ time and perhaps win an overall majority. With craftsmanlike thoroughness, he set out to build an administration that would be calm, predict - able and controlled. Which is one reason why people are fed up with Cameron. The impression grows that he seeks to control his followers without conveying any adequate idea of what the control is for. I have been taken aback by the vehemence with which many Tories now dislike him.

As one of his backbenchers, first elected in 2010 but involved in Tory politics for much longer, put it to me: “I’ve known the man for years. He’s just no good with his backbenchers, just doesn’t want to give them the time of day. I think he has very poor manners with his own backbenchers. He holds us in contempt.” Another Tory backbencher from the 2010 intake, a man of intellectual vitality, summed up the problem with Cameron: “The Prime Minister isn’t interested in other people’s views.” A third backbencher, first elected in 1992, said: “I regard Boris affectionately and wistfully, because he is someone who makes the party feel good about itself, feel loved. David Cameron seems to go out of his way to make the party not feel loved. I don’t know how Cameron thinks the army of Tories [in the constituencies] is going to fight for him at the next general election. Secretly I’m one of the people who hanker after Boris. He would make the thing such fun. It would be a white-knuckle ride.

He would need really, really good people round him.” The more Cameron tries to control his backbenchers, the more they dream of starting a new life with Johnson. The Prime Minister behaves like a husband who shows his wife no affection, allows her no freedom, is coldly uninterested in what she thinks, and has even told her, without so much as a by-your-leave, that she must share her house for five years with some people she dislikes intensely called the Liberal Democrats. Johnson’s anarchic style begins, in these circumstances, to seem like a recommendation. His impulsiveness and his willingness to have a go at things which may or may not work start to look attractive. That the two men went to the same school, Eton, is sometimes taken to show they must be similar. Like many Englishmen, Etonians are seldom inclined to risk making fools of themselves by trying out new activities in public. Cameron is a typical Etonian: he hardly ever looks unprepared. Johnson is, in this and other respects, untypical: he has attracted an adoring public by appearing never to be prepared. Johnson arrived at Eton as a scholar in the autumn of 1977, aged 13.

He was part of the school’s intellectual elite, accommodated in a separate house and marked out by being made to wear gowns. By the time he left, at the end of 1982, he had become a commanding figure with a reputation as a star performer. His speciality was forgetting his lines. One of his friends, Andrew Gilmour, remembers Johnson reciting the first page of Evelyn Waugh’s Decline and Fall, which begins: “Mr Sniggs, the Junior Dean, and Mr Postlethwaite, the Domestic Bursar . . .” Gilmour recounts Johnson’s performance: “The way he said ‘Sniggs’ made people laugh, and then he turned to the prompter and said, ‘What’s his name again?’ That brought the house down. Even the provost [Lord Charteris of Amisfield, chairman of the fellows, or governors, of Eton] I remember roaring with laughter. I think from that time Johnson realised that if you forget your lines and carry it off with aplomb, then you’re made.” Most people have no idea how to carry this sort of thing off, and the performance becomes embarrassing for all concerned. Some of Johnson’s performances became embarrassing.

Eric Anderson, then headmaster of Eton, was unamused when Johnson played Richard III: “He hadn’t had time to learn the lines, so had pasted them up behind various pillars. The whole performance consisted of him running from one side of the stage to the other and failing to read it properly.” Martin Hammond, who was Johnson’s housemaster and taught him classics, was also at times unamused, writing of him in a school report in April 1982: “Boris really has adopted a disgracefully cavalier attitude to his classical studies . . .

Boris sometimes seems affronted when criticised for what amounts to a gross failure of responsibility (and surprised at the same time that he was not appointed Captain of the School for next half): I think he honestly believes that it is churlish of us not to regard him as an exception, one who should be free of the network of obligation which binds everyone else.” Although Johnson became such a dominant presence that he had to be made captain of the school for his last half (as the school term is known at Eton), the question of whether he is “a real life-enhancer” (as Hammond also described him) or unforgivably unprofessional pursues him to this day. But, whatever one thinks about that, it is worth noting not just that Johnson was determined to get to the top by doing things his own way, but that he was already in the grip of an urge to connect with audiences and make them grateful to him for entertaining them. Laughter had become his chosen weapon of seduction. His success this summer at the London Olympics, from which he emerged as the most popular politician in the country, is not some happy accident, but the result of over 30 years of practice.

Cameron, born on 9 October 1966, so just over two years younger than Johnson, arrived at Eton evincing no great urge to perform in public. His biographers Francis Elliott and James Hanning quote another Etonian who recalls gazing with Cam eron at the statues of past Etonian prime ministers, of whom there had then been 18: “We were convinced there would never be an Etonian prime minister again. I certainly didn’t think Dave would have a go at it. His only acting roles at school were as a serving-man and as a girl. He was never outrageously extrovert – just quietly popular.” John Clark, one of his teachers, agrees with this. “He didn’t draw attention to himself. He wasn’t effusive or loud.” Clark says that Cam - eron was “very much a late developer acade - mically” who started to do well when he chose A-levels that suited him: history, history of art and economics. The two men’s backgrounds are also completely different. Cameron lived in the same house from the age of three, an old rectory in Berkshire, and went often to the church that adjoins it.

He is descended on his father’s side from a long line of successful stockbrokers, while his mother’s family, the Mounts, moved from London to Berkshire and built themselves a mansion in 1760. Johnson’s parents moved 32 times before getting divorced when he was 14. The whole set-up was very much more bohemian. In the direct male line, Johnson is descended from a Turkish politician and journalist who was stoned to death in 1922. While Cameron is an Anglican, and believes devoutly in marriage, Johnson is spiritually more at home in the ancient world of gods and heroes from before the dawn of Christian guilt. At Oxford, the pattern of school repeated itself. Johnson was a well-known figure, regarded by some as a future prime minister – by giving the wittiest speeches, he managed in 1986, at the second attempt, to get himself elected president of the Oxford Union. It would be misleading to describe the two men as rivals at this time. They both belonged to the Bullingdon Club, which involved dressing up on a few occasions like a footman, but for most of the time they moved in quite different circles.

A friend of Johnson says he would have viewed the idea of going on holiday with Cameron’s set as “atrocious”, and one can be sure the feeling was, and is, mutual. For Johnson, it would have been absurd to regard the younger, less intellectual and seemingly not very dynamic figure of Cameron as a rival. Cameron played no part in student debating or politics, but with quiet efficiency took a First in philosophy, politics and economics – the favoured degree of our political class, taken by Hugh Gaitskell, Harold Wilson, Edward Heath, Michael Foot, Roy Jenkins, Tony Crosland, Tony Benn, Barbara Castle, Shirley Williams, Nigel Lawson, Peter Mandelson, Chris Huhne, Danny Alexander, Yvette Cooper, Ed Balls, Ed Davey, Ed Miliband, David Miliband, David Willetts, William Hague, Philip Hammond, Jeremy Hunt, Maria Eagle, Nick Boles, Steve Hilton and Radek Sikorski, among others. Someone should examine whether PPE equips one to run anything. Johnson preferred the studies since the Renaissance of an educated man: he read Mods and Greats, which consists of Greek and Latin literature, history and philosophy.

He loves these languages but devoted so little time to them at Oxford that he failed to get the First to which his intellectual gifts entitled him, a blow to one who sets absurdly high store by academic scoresheets. Jeremy Paxman attempted, at the time of the Conservative conference in October last year, to press Johnson on this sensitive spot by asking him on Newsnight if he feels “intellectually inferior” to the Prime Minister. Johnson parried the blow by pretending to misunderstand the question: “No. To whom?” Paxman pressed home the attack by pointing out that Cameron got a First and asked if this rankled. But Johnson retorted: “It would, if it wasn’t that his First was in PPE.” Guto Harri, Johnson’s then press man, burst out laughing at the way Johnson had knocked not just Cameron but a large part of the cabinet and shadow cabinet out of the ring. Cameron’s inability on the Letterman show last month to translate the words “Magna Carta”, will not have come as any surprise to Johnson. In 1988 Cameron went straight from Oxford into the Conservative Research Department, where he gained a close knowledge of how politics works.

This was a job for an insider, and he was very good at it. He won golden opinions for the quality of the briefings he provided to ministers, for his calm judgement of dangerous political situations and for his ability to spot Labour’s weaknesses. As Maurice Fraser, a colleague quoted by Elliott and Hanning, said: “He always knew what you could say and what you couldn’t.” Before long he was helping to brief John Major before Prime Minister’s Questions, a role he continued into the 1992 general election, the last at which the Tories gained an overall majority. Johnson pursued a different path, and one that made him much more famous. In 1987 he left Oxford and joined the Times as a trainee – a post from which he was sacked the following year for making up a quotation about Edward II. At this crisis in his fortunes, Johnson with characteristic energy sought employment in various places, including the Conservative Research Department. Robin Harris, its director, interviewed him, formed a high opinion of him, and offered him a job. But Max Hastings, the editor of the Daily Telegraph, saw Johnson’s potential, made him a better offer and soon sent him to Brussels as the paper’s correspondent.

Here Johnson made his name by debunking the European Union at a time when other reporters were treating it with respect. This was a job for an outsider, and Johnson was very good at it. So, as Cameron was rising with characteristic discretion within the Tory establishment, Johnson was performing to an ever larger gallery with stories about Jacques Delors, the president of the European Commission, trying to take over Europe. On returning from Brussels, Johnson reached an even wider audience by appearing on programmes such as Have I Got News for You, and in 1999 he became editor of the Spectator. In 2001, when both he and Cameron entered the Commons, it still appeared to most observers as though Johnson was the rising star who might restore the Tory party’s fortunes. But while Cameron soon began to make a reputation at Westminster as one of the most astute and diligent members of the new intake, Johnson soon came to be regarded by his fellow MPs as lazy, unprofessional and irritatingly well known. He was not in fact lazy: he was manically active, attempting to ride two horses at the same time.

Towards the end of 2004, he suffered a couple of crashing falls that would have ended the career of a less resilient politician. The first was when the Spectator published an editorial attacking the people of Liverpool and making grotesque errors about the 1989 Hillsborough disaster. Michael Howard, the then Tory leader, sent Johnson to Liverpool to apologise. Farcical scenes ensued as Tory minders made ludicrous efforts to stop the national press finding Johnson. Soon after this debacle, a second story broke, about Johnson’s mistress, the journalist Petronella Wyatt, having aborted his child. Johnson, who reckoned the press had no right to ask him about his private life, dismissed the story as “an inverted pyramid of piffle”, which it was not. The tabloids demonstrated that he had lied and Howard dismissed him from the humble post of shadow arts spokesman. The following year, the Tories lost their third general election in a row, Howard resigned and Cameron launched his bid for the leadership. Johnson, his own reputation too damaged to stand, at once had the wit to back Cameron. But after unexpectedly defeating David Davis, Cameron declined to offer Johnson any significant role.

The new leader had quite enough trouble rebutting the charge that he was an outof- touch Etonian, without promoting another Etonian who was known to be uncontrollable. The parliamentary path to power was blocked, and so Johnson decided to have a crack at a popularity contest that no other wellknown Tory dared to enter. In 2008 he ran for mayor of London against Ken Livingstone and won. For the next four years, he let no chance go by to attack Cameron, and this May Londoners rewarded him with a second victory over Livingstone. Johnson had demonstrated that, unlike Cameron, he is an amazing campaigner who knows how to persuade Labour supporters to vote Conservative. The mayor celebrated his victory by repeatedly upstaging the Prime Minister at the Olympics. Cameron had never practised in his youth the art of rousing a crowd to such a pitch of enthusiasm that it chants his name, and it is too late for him to learn it now. The Prime Minister finds himself in the position of a teacher who is continually mocked by the brightest and most popular boy in the class. He has to pretend to find Johnson’s antics funny. In reality, he takes a dim view of them.

One insider recently described Cameron’s view of Johnson as “frosty” and among Johnson’s people Cameron is regarded with increasingly open contempt as a man without a plan who is not up to being Prime Minister. His feebleness on the question of a third runway at Heathrow, with any decision postponed until after the next election and hints that the project will then be approved, is seen as symptomatic of a tendency to cave in to a combination of the Treasury and powerful corporate interests. And it is difficult to get people to hate Johnson, especially as he is so determined to be liked. He has a gift for mending fences even with those whom one might have expected to become his lifelong enemies. He and Cameron are still able for much of the time to treat their rivalry as a game, but one that both of them are in deadly earnest about winning. With George Osborne, the relationship is less playful. Johnson poses a direct threat to his control of the Tory machine, and to his hope of exercising, when the time comes, a decisive influence on the choice of Cameron’s successor. From the Osborne camp we can expect to hear dark insinuations that Johnson is too scandalous a figure to become prime minister.

Tory MPs do not yet know whether they can trust Johnson, but many of them are completely disillusioned by Osborne. They accuse him of seeing every decision as entirely political, taking no interest in economics, of yielding to the temptation to believe in preposterously optimistic forecasts and, naturally, of the dreadful sin of ignoring Tory backbenchers. I was surprised to hear one backbencher commend Johnson as “the only Conservative at the top able to put Thatcherite ideas in a way that is persuasive and convincing”. Johnson is not a Thatcherite. He is a risk-taker who will go for anything he thinks has a fair chance of working. Johnson is now in a position to persecute the Prime Minister almost daily. On past form, he will use the Tory conference in Birmingham once more to upstage Cameron. The Mayor of London can be bolder about tax cuts, the des - irability of getting rid of the euro, the need for a new airport, the best ways of getting Labour voters to back the Tories, and also on any passing issue of the hour, such as the atrocious manners of Andrew Mitchell, the Chief Whip who called the police plebs.

Cameron, as the cautious voice of the establishment, cannot match Johnson the Merry England maverick on any of these subjects. If the economy recovers, Cameron will recover with it. Johnson’s supporters on the back benches, who say they prefer to rely on “ad hoc conversations” rather than anything so formal as a “skeleton team”, are anxious that he does not overplay his hand and precipitate an early leadership contest. They fear “anyone could come through” such a race: Philip Hammond’s name is often mentioned. The assumption is that Michael Gove would stand, and either Justine Greening or Theresa May. Johnson’s admirers want him back in the Commons before any contest, and they reckon the natural time for him to get back in is at the general election in 2015, when he could disingenuously claim he is standing in a London seat in order to represent the interests of the capital in the Commons. If Cameron fails to win that election, his own backbenchers will no longer extend the benefit of the doubt to him. They will demand a new leader.

By that stage a member of the 2010 intake might be ready to have a go, though it is too early to say which member of that gifted crowd is most likely to come through. Over the next three years, we can expect Johnson to bend every sinew to demonstrate that he is the party’s greatest electoral asset and the one man who could lead it to an overall majority. He will try to become the person to whom the party feels compelled to turn. It is notable that he is already spoken of as a man for the top job or for no job at all. If he does one day supplant Cameron, he will regard it as belated recognition of his natural supremacy. Andrew Gimson is the author of “Boris: the Rise of Boris Johnson” (Simon & Schuster, £7.99). Boris Johnson - IMDb IMDb Actor Boris Johnson was born on June 19, 1964 in New York City, New York, USA as Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson.

He is an actor, known for Boris Johnson and the Dream of Rome (2006), Churchill: The Nation's Farewell (2015) and 25 Years of Question Time (2004). He has been married to Marina Wheeler since 1993. They have four children. He was ... See full bio » Born: a list of 163 people created 03 Jun 2011 a list of 40 people created 14 Dec 2012 a list of 174 people created 04 Jul 2013 a list of 4 people created 4 months ago a list of 284 people created 4 months ago Do you have a demo reel? Add it to your IMDbPage How much of Boris Johnson's work have you seen? User Polls Churchill: The Nation's Farewell Himself - Author, 'The Churchill Factor' (2015) - Episode dated 1 October 2009 (2009) ...

Mayor of London Hide 2007 Taking Liberties (Documentary) (special thanks) Hide 2016 Peston on Sunday (TV Series) Himself - Guest, Foreign Secretary 2016 Victoria Derbyshire (TV Series) Himself 2016 This Week (TV Series) Himself 2016 EU Referendum: ITV (TV Mini-Series) Himself - Leave 2015 C à vous (TV Series) Himself 2015 BBC News 8pm Summary (TV Series short) Himself 2015 Alternative Election Night (TV Movie) Himself 2015 Election 2015 (TV Movie) Himself - Conservative, Uxbridge and South Ruislip 2015 Inside the Commons (TV Mini-Series documentary) Himself - Mayor of London 2015 Churchill: The Nation's Farewell (TV Movie documentary) Himself - Author, 'The Churchill Factor' 2009-2014 BBC London News (TV Series) Himself - Mayor of London / Himself - interviewed 2014 Scotland Decides (TV Movie) Himself - Mayor of London 2014 Vote 2014 (TV Movie) Himself

 - Mayor of London, Conservative 2013-2014 ITV Lunchtime News (TV Series) Himself 1999-2013 Question Time (TV Series) Himself 2013 CNBC Meets (TV Series documentary) Himself 2013 Le grand journal de Canal+ (TV Series documentary) Himself 2013 South Today (TV Series) Himself 2009-2012 ITV News London (TV Series) Himself - Mayor of London / Himself - Interviewee 2012 The Daily Show (TV Series) Himself 2012 Charlie Rose (TV Series) Himself - Guest 2012 The Diamond Queen (TV Series documentary) Himself - Mayor of London 2010-2011 The One Show (TV Series) Himself - Guest / Himself 2011 Royal Wedding Day (TV Movie) Himself 2011 Faulks on Fiction (TV Series documentary) Himself - Episode #3.36 (2008) ...

Himself - Mayor of London - Episode #3.21 (2008) ... Himself (as Boris Johnson MP) - Episode #1.19 (2006) ... Himself - Newspaper Reviewer (as Boris Johnson MP) 2010 Election 2010 (TV Movie) Himself - Mayor of London 2009 Going Green: Cycling (TV Movie documentary) Himself - Mayor of London 2009 Win My Vote! (TV Movie documentary) Himself 2009 Imagine (TV Series documentary) Himself 2009 Snowstorm: Britain's Big Freeze (TV Movie documentary) Himself - Mayor of London 2003-2008 Top Gear (TV Series) Himself 2008 Mischief (TV Series documentary) Himself 2007 Blaired Vision (TV Movie) Himself 2005-2007 The Daily Politics (TV Series) Himself / Himself - Shadow Higher Education Minister / Himself - Conservative Higher Education Spokesman 2007 This Week (TV Series) Himself - Episode #32.9 (2006) ...

Himself - Guest Presenter (as Boris Johnson M.P.) - Episode #30.6 (2005) ... Himself - Guest Presenter (as Boris Johnson MP) - Episode #26.8 (2003) ... Himself - Guest Presenter - Episode #24.6 (2002) ... Himself - Guest Presenter (as Boris Johnson MP) 2006 The National Television Awards (TV Movie documentary) Himself - Presenter 2004-2006 Richard & Judy (TV Series) Himself 2005 Election Night (TV Movie) Himself - Conservative 2005 Turks (TV Movie documentary) Himself 2004 25 Years of Question Time (TV Movie documentary) Himself 2004 Timeshift (TV Series documentary) Himself 2003 Room 101 (TV Series) Himself - Guest 2003 Gerald Scarfe: Drawing Blood (TV Movie documentary) Himself 2003 Breakfast with Frost (TV Series) Himself 2002 When Louis Met...

Max Clifford (TV Special documentary) Himself (uncredited) 2001 Vote 2001 (TV Movie) Himself - Conservative 2000 Lamarr's Attacks (TV Series) Himself 1998-1999 The Sundays (TV Series) Himself 1997-1998 The Sunday Programme (TV Series) Himself - Newspaper Reviewer / Himself 2016 Good Morning Britain (TV Series) Himself / Himself - Foreign Secretary 2016 Panorama (TV Series documentary) Himself 2016 Goodbye Britain? (TV Movie documentary) Himself 2013 Speeches That Shook the World (TV Movie documentary) Himself 2012 The Wright Stuff (TV Series) Himself - Mayor of London 2012 Gruen Sweat (TV Series documentary) Himself 2009 The Funny Side of... (TV Series documentary) Himself Radio commercial for The Spectator (December 2005) See more » Publicity Listings: 1 Portrayal | 4 Interviews | 11 Articles | 3 Magazine Cover Photos | See more » Alternate Names: Mayor Boris Johnson | Boris Johnson M.P.

| Boris Johnson MP Height: Did You Know? Personal Quote: [on his potential Tory rivals in Parliament] After 2016 who knows what will happen. But I'm very, very happy with the job of mayor of London. They should cool their porridge, save their breath, put their shoulders to the wheel, all hands to the mast, and all shoot from the same trench - to mix my metaphors. See more » Trivia: Was commonly touted as a future leader of the Conservative Party. Following Britain's Vote to leave the European Union on June 23 2016 he announced that he would not run for the Conservative Party Leadership and Prime Minister. His decision gave Home Secretary Theresa May a free run. On June 28 2016 May announced her candidacy for the Conservative Party Leadership and Prime Minister, racking up ... See more » Trademark: Wears Bright Neckties (Both Blue and Red neckties).

See more » Nickname: The Blonde Bombshell See more » Star Sign: Boris Johnson — Ethnicity of Celebs | What Nationality Ancestry Race by ethnic on May 16, 2010 Birth Name: Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson Place of Birth: Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States Date of Birth: 19 June, 1964 Ethnicity: English, 1/8th Turkish, 1/8th Ashkenazi Jewish, small amounts of Swiss-German, German, French, European Royal, and Irish Boris Johnson is a British politician, historian, and journalist. A member of the Conservative Party, he has served as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, since 13 July, 2016. He has been an MP since 7 May, 2015. He was previously an MP from 9 June, 2001 to 4 June, 2008, and Mayor of London, from 4 May, 2008 to 9 May, 2016, among other duties.

Boris was born in Manhattan, New York City, New York, to British parents, Charlotte Maria (Fawcett), an artist, and Stanley Johnson (Stanley Patrick Johnson), a politician and author who has served as an MEP. His family returned to England later in 1964. Boris’ paternal grandfather was of one half Turkish (possibly one quarter Turkish and one quarter Circassian), one quarter Swiss-German, and one quarter English, ancestry. Boris’ paternal grandmother was of one half English, three sixteenths German, three sixteenths French, one sixteenth European Royal, and one sixteenth Irish, ancestry. Boris’ mother is of three quarters English (with one quarter being English-American, with deep roots in New England) and one quarter Ashkenazi Jewish (from Lithuania and Russia) descent. Boris’s paternal grandfather was Osman Wilfred Johnson, born Osman Wilfred Kemal (the son of Ali Kemal Bey and Winifred Brun).

Ali was Turkish, born in Süleymaniye, Constantinople, Ottoman Empire, to Ahmet Hamdi Kemal and Hanife Fered, and was a liberal newspaper editor, journalist, poet, and Minister of the Interior in the Ottoman Empire; Ali’s mother might have been a slave of Circassian descent. Winifred had English and Swiss-German ancestry. Ali and Winifred met during a visit to Switzerland. Winifred’s father, Francis Julius Brun, was born in Switzerland, and Winifred’s mother was named Margaret Johnson, from whom Boris’s family’s surname comes from. Boris’s paternal grandmother was Irene Eileen Williams (the daughter of Stanley Fred Williams and Marie Luise Freiin von Pfeffel). Stanley was English. Marie Louise was born in France, the daughter of Hubert, Baron von Pfeffel (grandson of Prince Paul of Württemberg), who was German, and of Helene von Rivière, who was French, along with likely 1/4 Irish ancestry, from Marie’s great-grandmother, Marie Tobin.

Baron von Pfeffel’s mother, Adelheid Pauline von Rothenburg, was the illegitimate daughter of Prince Paul of Württemberg and his mistress Friederike Margrethe Porth. Boris’s maternal grandfather was James Edmund Sandford Fawcett, a lawyer (the son of The Rev. Joseph Fawcett and Edith Annie Scattergood). James was English. Boris’s maternal grandmother was Frances Beatrice Lowe (the daughter of Elias Avery Lowe, born Elias Avery Loew, and Helen Tracy Porter). Frances was American-born. Elias was born in present day Žemaičių Kalvarija, Lithuania, to Charles Loew/Lowe and Sarah Ragoler; his father’s family was Lithuanian Jewish, and his mother’s family was Russian Jewish. Boris’s great-grandmother Helen was born in Pennsylvania, had English ancestry, and was the daughter of Henry Clinton Porter and Clara Holcombe. Helen Porter’s aunt, Boris’s great-great-great-aunt Charlotte Porter, was a prominent American poet, translator, and literary critic.

neiltennant June 27, 2016 at 6:56 am INTERESTING he is a melting pot- He himself said that he is a melting pot of three religions haha jewish, christian and muslim madman January 3, 2016 at 9:09 am CORRECTION: 1. Ali’s mother, Hanife Feride, might have been a slave of Circassian descent. It is not clear if it is true, but it could be mentioned as an interesting caviot on Boris’ profile. 2. Ali met Winifred during a visit to Switzerland. Winifred’s father, Francis Julius Brun, was born in Switzerland, which makes it safe to say that she had, more specifically, English and Swiss-German ancestry. The surname Brun is also more prevalent in Switzerland than in Germany. 3. Stanley was born in England and had English ancestry. 4. Marie’s father was German, and her mother was French with 1/4 (most likely) Irish ancestry. Her great-grandmother, Marie Tobin, is sometimes described as being English.

However, her surname (Tobin) as well as her mother’s maiden name (O’Gorman), are both of Irish origin. At least Marie Tobin’s great-grandfather, James O’Gorman, was born in Ireland. It is possible that she was of partly English descent. 5. Elias was born in present day Žemaičių Kalvarija, Lithuania. His father’s family was Lithuanian Jewish, while his mother’s family was Russian Jewish. Boris Johnson Biography -Biography Online About Boris Johnson Biography Boris Johnson is a leading Conservative Politician. Since 2008, he has been the mayor of London, overseeing the 2012 London Olympics. He is one of the most high profile politicians, renowned for his eccentric approach to life. He is touted as a potential future leader of the Conservative party. Short Bio of Boris Johnson Boris Johnson was born on 19th June, 1964. His full name is actually, Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, but for obvious reasons choose to use the shortened version of Boris.

However, his full name was used on an edition of Have I Got News for You, much to the delight of Paul Merton and Ian Hislop. Boris is the son of Stanley Johnson, who is descended from Turkish ancestry. Boris was educated at Eton, and Balliol College, Oxford University, where he studied classics. During his time at Oxford University, he became president of the prestigious Oxford Union. It is claimed that, he was the preferred candidate of the Social Democrat party, although Boris claims he was never an active participant in the centre – left party. During his time at Oxford, he also became involved in various drinking clubs, such as the Bullingdon Club. This drinking society was associated with a “Hurray Henry” mentality. Boris has maintained this impression of being an Oxford toff, into his political and public life. In his own words Boris has said: “A wise guy playing the fool to win”, [2] The media have often referred to him as “Bozzer”.

On graduating from Oxford he spent one week as a management consultant, before having to resign he memorably said: “Try as I might, I could not look at an overhead projection of a growth profit matrix, and stay conscious” [3] Instead he pursued a career in journalism, gaining various jobs before becoming editor of the Spectator in 1999. This position enabled him to gain a higher public profile. His position has also led to considerable controversy. Not least, over an editorial criticising the people of Liverpool for being “overly sentimental” in response to the murder of British hostage Ken Bigley. The editorial created uproar in Liverpool; Boris Johnson was forced by his party leader Michael Howard to travel to Liverpool to apologise for his behaviour. Biting humble pie, Boris did go to Liverpool and faced a frosty reaction. Boris Johnson as MP In 2001, Boris Johnson was elected a MP for Henley on Thames, replacing Michael Heseltine. He continues to hold the position. In 2004 he was appointed shadow minister for the arts. However in November 2004, he was forced to resign over allegations of an extra marital affair with Petronella Wyatt.

In 2005, he was reprieved and given the position of shadow minister for education. In 2006, allegations of another extra marital affair arose, but David Cameron did not consider it sufficient to deserve a sacking. Boris Johnson and Mayor for London In July 2007, Boris Johnson resigned from his position as shadow education secretary so that he would be free to stand as Conservative candidate for Mayor London. He was successful in beating the incumbent Ken Livingstone. As Mayor of London, Boris Johnson has forged a strong political identity, often criticising his own party, for example other placing a cap on housing benefits, which hurts London more than other areas. Since 2008, Boris has served as Mayor of London becoming one of the highest profile politicians in the UK. He has often been rumoured as a credible leadership candidate for the Conservative party, though he has denied this. In 2012, Johnson was re-elected Mayor of London, again defeating Ken Livingstone. How did Boris Johnson become Mayor for London? Developed high media profile through appearance on TV Ability to turn gaffes into public relation successes. An appeal to young people across traditional party boundaries.

Gave impression of charismatic and unique personality, an increasing rarity in modern politics. It was partly a backlash against the Labour government in 2007, but primarily because of Johnson’s personal profile. It is rare for Conservatives to do well in London. Ken Livingston had his own high public profile after 8 years in the job, but there was some desire for a change Boris Johnson and Cycling Boris is well known for his love of cycling and frequently commutes to work through the busy streets of London. He has had many bikes stolen and has written extensively on the injustice of bike theft. For example, he notes that on having a bike stole people usually respond by criticising the cyclist for not taking sufficient precautions or buying a bike that is too flash. He admits that he has fantasised over leaving dummy bikes as bait for thieves and then set the navy seals on to the criminals. Boris also got into controversy over an incident of speaking into a mobile phone whilst cycling. In the Daily telegraph there was a strong letter of criticism about his action. However, Boris stuck to his guns saying that using a mobile phone was not against any law.

As Mayor of London, Boris has helped set up the Barclays Cycle hire scheme which enables people to use bikes from cycle docking stations. Some Boris quotes from the Have I got News for You: “We’re moving irresistibly towards a conclusion.” “Badgers badgers badger badger badgers.” “There may be a reason I can’t think of but the problem with that reason is that I can’t think of it now.” “I think I was once given cocaine but I sneezed so it didn’t go up my nose. In fact, it may have been icing sugar.” “I could not fail to disagree with you less.” [1] – Boris Johnson Usually the show lasts for 30 minutes. With Boris in the chair there were frequent pauses and time getting through questions. Merton and Hislop affectionately refer to Johnson as “Wodehousian”, and agree that “every time he’s on it gets better”. Boris Johnson and Top Gear Boris Johnson appeared on Top Gear, and performed with his customary bumbling persona. He came 9th from last, just a little ahead of Terry Wogan. He also drove for much of the lap with his shoulder on the horn, later asking who was beeping him.

Boris Johnson and London Olympics Boris was a key figurehead for the successful 2012 London Olympics. Even getting stuck on a high wire, did Boris no harm. At the end of the London Olympics, Johnson said: “But I suppose there are two emotions – one is obviously some sadness that it is all over, because it’s been an amazing experience, but also a great relief because there is no doubt it has been a prodigious exertion by London and by Londoners.” Citation: Pettinger, Tejvan . (G+) "Biography of Boris Johnson", Oxford, 11th Feb, 2013 Books on Boris Johnson Boris Johnson at Amazon.com Johnson’s Life of London Boris Johnson has authored several books on Ancient Rome, Winston Churchill and a best selling account of the history of London. Johnson’s Life of London at Amazon.co.uk References [1] 2004 winner of the Foot in Mouth Award from the Plain English Campaign, for his comment on the 12 December 2003 edition of Have I Got News For You [1] [2] Boris Johnson, Sunday Times, 16 July 2000, p. 17.

[3] The Herald (Glasgow), 13 November 2004, p. 15. Boris Johnson Links Boris Johnson / Useful Notes - TV Tropes Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson is a UK Conservative politician, Mayor of London, Member of Parliament for Uxbridge and South Ruislip, journalist, novelist, historian, classicist, and TV personality. And now Foreign Secretary of Theresa May's cabinet. He's also the secondnote if not The most famous Tory bicyclist after fellow Eton and Oxford alum (and Bullingdon Club member) David "ignore that car behind me" Cameron . Easily recognizable by his unruly mop of blond hair, general air of amiable distraction, and tendency to talk like somebody out of P. G. Wodehouse . A journalist covering politics and cars, and editor of The Spectator magazine, he came to major fame with an appearance on Have I Got News for You . He was a journalist only known - and then only really to other journalists - for an audio tape of a phone call in which he agrees to help an old school friend of his beat up another journalist.

Ian Hislop had a transcript of this which he used to mock Johnson, which he hadn't been expecting; following this, he claimed in his column that the show was entirely scripted. And then reappeared on the show later to retract this, reassuring "all the little children out there" that the show was indeed entirely spontaneous, and admitting that he'd agreed to come back purely for the money. He also appeared later as a repeated guest host. While others will point out to him that he's made controversial comments out loud, while microphones are still on, and kept on digging himself in deeper even after it's been pointed out to him, he appears to be immune to embarrassment.

It's everyone else who gets embarrassed instead, one of the key components in his ability to defy political gravity - despite all the above mentioned gaffes and many, many, many more, including an affair and at least one illegitimate child (the sort of offences for which any other politician would and have been tarred, feathered and run out of the Conservative party for on principle) and a not entirely unjustified perception by Remain Voters following the EU Referendum that Boris had only joined the Leave campaign (in which he was a crucial component, because approximately 80% of the country unconditionally despises Nigel Farage) as part of his political ambitions, and had therefore screwed over the country for his own vanity, especially as several months before the Referendum he had said leaving the EU would be disastrous. Then he was promptly stabbed in the back by supposed political ally Michael Gove, before performing a phoenix like resurrection barely a week later to become the Foreign Secretary in the Cabinet of new Prime Minister Theresa May.

On a different note, he is probably the most ethnically-mixed political person of significance living today after Barack Obama himself, being not only English but American (born in New York, which means it is possible for him to be the only man ever to have served as Mayor of London and President of the United States - though as of 2015, he has apparently given up his American citizenship), French, German, Russian, and Turkish. He's the whole Crimean War in one messy blond package! People have also noticed that he and Donald Trump look like twins separated at birth... Or at least have the same barber. Boris Johnson in fiction: Beware the Silly Ones : Those who have seen him in private have repeatedly remarked that he's not half as ridiculous as his Obfuscating Stupidity would have you believe, in fact being a very ruthless politician with a well-planned route to the top.

Question: What is Boris Johnson's first name?
Answer: ALEXANDER